Chair



June 10, 1958 J. A. HEAVERN 3 CHAIR Filed Aug. 12, 1954 vi; 1111111" IIIIVIIIIIIIIA mm:- W m V I Unitfid States Patent CHAIR James A. Heavern, Columbus, Ind., assignor to Hamilton Manufacturing Corporation, Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Certain'types of chairs, notably ofiice chairs, are frequently provided with a back which is pivotally mounted for fore-and-aft swinging movement, an appropriate spring means being provided to resiliently oppose rearward movement -of the back under pressure exerted against it by the occupant of the chair. It has heretofore been proposed, as in the copending application of Bertis F. Hamilton, Serial No. 247,969, filed September 24, 1951, now Patent No. 2,770,292, granted November 13, 1956, to mount the back on a back support having two parallel arms which project forwardly beneath the seat and respectively between pairs of seat-supported vertical bracket-flanges to which the arms are pivotally connected by pins extending through aligned holes in the arms and flanges. The said Hamilton application further proposes that the arms or the flanges be provided with series of pinreceiving holes, permitting the fore-and-aft position of the back to be varied to vary the effective depth of the chair.

The present invention relates to a pin for use in an arrangement such as is exemplified in the chair of the aforesaid Hamilton application and has for its object the provision of a pin which can be simply and economically manufactured, which will be held in operative position against forces tending to dislodge it, but which can be perpendicularly to the first leg to a point beyond the bracket, and a third leg in the form of a hook which, when in operative position, engages the back-support arm to prevent withdrawl of the first leg. The third leg is movable into operative position by rotation of the clip about the axis of the first leg, and the first and third legs are so relatively disposed that the clip must be elastically distorted to permit such rotation.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a chair with portions of the seat broken away;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the removable connecting means; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmental plan view showing the front end of a back-support arm and its connection to seat-flanges.

My invention is disclosed as employed in a chair of a type more fully shown and described in the aforesaid copending Hamilton application. Such chair comprises a base 10 having an upright post 12 upon which is mounted a seat 14. A back 16 is supported in spaced relation to the seat by a pair of transversely spaced back-supporting arms 18, formed of metal tubing, which run vertically downward from the back 16 to an elevation below the seat 14, then forwardly under the seat to be pivotally connected thereto through aligned, transversely spaced seat-brackets 20. Such brackets 20 are of a general lJ-shape in front elevation, and between the parallel walls 2,838,096 Patented June 10, 1958 21 of'each is carried the forward extremity of one of the back-support arms 18. The walls 21 are provided with longitudinal series of aligned transversely extending openings 24, to provide seat-depth adjustment by selective association of a selected pair thereof with aligned transverse holes'28 provided in the back-support arms 18. Fatigue-reducing back-reclination is provided in such a chair by permitting the back-support to rotate with respect to the seat brackets 20, such movement being resiliently opposed by springs 30 which act between the seat and the back-support arms to yieldingly urge the backsupport to back-upraised condition.

For removably yet positively pivoting each back-support arm 18 to its associated seat-bracket 20, I provide the connection means 32 more fully shown in Figs. '2 and 3. Each such connection means comprises a clip made of a single length of spring wire or rod formed to provide a" straight leg 34 adapted to pass transversely through one wall of bracket 20, through the back-support arm 18, and out through the other bracket-wall 20, to serve as a hingepin. From one end of such leg 34, the wire extends transversely to provide a leg 36 provided at its end with a hook 38 adapted to extend across and engage the remote side of the arm 18 beyond the bracket 20. The extreme end-portion 40 of such hook is bent outwardly to form a nose 42 which marks the effective termination of the bight of the hook.

In using the clip 32 for its intended purpose, the leg 34 is inserted through aligned openings in the arm 18 and bracket-Walls 21, and the clip is then rotated about the axis of the leg 34 to bring it into the position shown in Fig. 2. To insure that the clip will be retained in such position it is so formed that it must be elastically distorted to bring it into the Fig. 2 position. This may be done, for example, by forming the clip, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that the legs 34 and 36 are disposed at an obtuse'angle. As a result, when the clip is in its operative position, the clip-material will be elastically stressed and the hook 38 will be resiliently held in contact with the arm 18 to oppose that rotation of the clip which is necessary before the leg 34 can be withdrawn from association with the bracket 20. The out-bent hookend 40 provides both a cam surface aiding in rotation of the clip into operative position and a finger-piece facilitating rotation of the hook out of operative position.

The leg 36 is of a length sufiicient that it will carry the hook 38 clear of the bracket 20 even though the seatdepth adjustment be that which uses the most forward one of the holes 24. Since the stock from which the clip is formed must be large enough to provide adequate strength and wear resistance for the leg 34, reasonable length in the leg 36 is desirable as it increases the effective flexibility and reduces the effort required in distorting the clip in the manner necessary to move it into and out of its operative position.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, I intend to cover all changes and modifications of the example herein chosen for purpose of disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a chair or the like having a seat, a back, and a back support, said back support including an arm extending adjacent the seat, means for releasably interconnecting said arm and seat, said means comprising a flange projecting from the scat beside said arm, said flange and arm having aligned holes, and a resilient clip having a first leg received in said holes and a second leg projecting from one end of the first leg along said arm to a point beyond said flange and being there formed to provide a hook extending across said arm and resiliently engaging the remote'side thereof to prevent withdrawal of said first leg' from said holes, said clip being rotatable about the axis of its first leg to effect disengagement of the book from said arm.

2. The invention of claim 1 with the addition that the end of the hook is bent outwardly to provide an inclined nose facilitating engagement of the hook with the arm.

3. The invention of claim 1 with the addition that there are two of said flanges located on opposite sides of said arm, said flanges having aligned holes through which the first legof the clip extends.

4. The invention of claim 1 with the addition that said arm extends horizontally beneath said seat, said flange being provided with a row of holes spaced along the arm and in any of which the first clip-leg is receivable.

5. The invention of claim 1 with the addition that said arm extends horizontally beneath said seat, one of said arm and flange being provided with a row of holes spaced along the arm and in any of which the first clip-leg is receivable.

6. The invention of claim 1 with the addition that said clip is formed of a single length of resilient wire.

7. In combination with 'inner and outer, relatively movable chair parts having aligned openings, said-inner part being located within said outer part and projecting longitudinally of itself therebeyond, a resilient wire clip having a first leg received in said openings and a second leg extending along the inner chair part to a point .beyond the outer chair-part and being there formed to provide a hook extending across the inner chair part and 4 resiliently engaging the remote side thereof to prevent withdrawal of said first leg from said holes, said clip being rotatable about the axis of its first leg to etfect disengagement of the hook from said arm.

8. A resilient, one-piece wire clip for interconnecting an elongated chair part with another chair part, said clip comprising a first, substantially straight leg adapted to extend through a transverse opening in the elongated part and into an aligned opening in the other part, a secondleg projecting at an angle to said first part to extend along said elongated part, and a hook joining the second leg at a point spaced from the first leg, said hook occupying a plane substantially perpendicular to said second leg, lying on the same side thereof as does said first leg, and opening in a direction opposite to that in which the first leg projects from the second leg.

References Cited in the file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 712,495 Chichester Nov. 4, 1902 714,177 Harris Nov. 25, 1902 740,567 Hunt Oct. 6, 1903 672,334 Casassa Oct. 11, 1910 1,357,826 Shaw Nov. 2, 1920 1,966,343 Hallowell July 10, 1934 2,454,057 Grunwald Nov. 16, 1948 2,673,590 Hamilton Mar. 30, 1954 2,729,273 Hamilton et a1. Jan. 3, 1956 

